Do a google image search for

cupcake

Upon my return, I found a piece of paper on my desk that said “Tuna Cartoons.”

I will meditate on this one… there must be an inner meaning.

Good morning, afternoon, and evening to you, gentle readers. Shaun McQuaid here.

The first question was answered on September 22, 2004. It’s been 1 year and 10 months or so since this crazy adventure began, and your intelligent and awe-inspiring questions have always been there for me, running circles in my brain, causing me to wonder at my own sanity and that of the world around me.

But today marks a milestone.

It seems that I have answered every single one of your questions. None remain in the queue.

Given that this is the case, I am making an ANNOUNCEMENT.

From this point forward, Defy S. McQuaid is on Temporary Hiatus. I will be watching and waiting, seeing if and when the questions mount up. When the number of unanswered questions attains a critical mass, and I have increased my knowledge to the point where I feel I am worthy of accepting the challenge, I will retrieve that gauntlet and begin the Answering again. But for now, you must not expect a weekly answer for some time. There is a philosophical point that has been reached; the desert of questions has been filled with the seeds of answers, and must be given time to flower.

Let’s look back at some of our favorite answers over time:

Resume Paper and Bloody Murder
What, turnip?
Cadbury Cream Eggs - Makes Lady Friends Happy!
Where Does Pork Come From?
Starfleet Regulations

I would add more, but I’m too fond of my answers; they clamour for attention, wanting to be redisplayed, and I must list only the favorites above.

If you have a Favorite answer, please post it in the comments!

Thank you for your readership, your questions, and your support. Rest assured that the answers will come again…..someday in the future. I will not abandon the task forever!

The Question

Adam asks:

Who decided it was a good idea, in baseball, to denote portions of innings pitched as “.1″ and “.2″? Some broadcasts use the proper notation of 1/3 and 2/3 innings pitched, but some—sometimes both are used on the same game!—use the mixed up .1 and .2. What’s a tenth of an inning anyway? Clearly one out is one third of an inning pitched.

The Answer

This is an interesting question. Researching the answer was difficult - yet, an answer, there is. (says Yoda).

Here’s the deal. Basically, when you see something like “3.2″ in the inning measurement system, it is in BASE 3 to the right of the decimal point, and BASE 10 to the left. Since the innings are measured in thirds (as you point out), the base for a percentage of an inning measurement is 3. Hence, “3.1″ really means “3 1/3″.

Who thought of this? Someone constrained by their technology, someone who just could display fractions on their television set, someone like you and me, Adam. Technology advances, so this nomenclature is no longer “required” by the properties of the display, but, like a bad penny, it keeps turning up. When you see both types of measurement in the same game, that’s when you know that not all displays are running on the same software, or that you’ve got someone running one of the displays who subscribes to the “old school” measurement.